Yes, I flooded the flats below and yes, we have to wait to see what sort of repair work must be done... there is definite and obvious water damage in the common area walls and ceilings in the floors beneath us. Yesterday was a busy day.
We had three visitations yesterday - sorta like Ebenezer Scrooge. Those that informed me of the flooding, the one affected by the flood, and the one who will take care of post-flood repairs.
The first ones I couldn't converse with but we were able to clearly communicate nevertheless. The second looked a bit like Johnathon Rhys Meyers and if had been any other circumstances than me hunched like a cripple, unshowered in sweats and having destroyed his home... well I might have looked a little harder and truly determined how cute he was. The third was our landlord - and she was as kind and understanding as could be - not a problem, accidents happen, we'll wait and let things dry out and then evaluate what needs to be repaired, do you need anything for the flat? Lamps, furniture... how are things working?
I sent Coral downstairs after we finished mopping up the remnants of the water with a note and some money for the JRM doppleganger. He said his kitchen stuff had been affected and I wanted to make sure he could eat dinner and replace what was destroyed - and she offered to help him clean up. He refused and was quite gracious, again. Actually he was when he came upstairs too - and even told us to let him know if we ever needed help with anything. (I'm rather confused by our interaction - in the US if someone you don't know screwed up your stuff there'e be obvious frustration or something... or the affected individual would say something like 'just buy me dinner or a beer sometime' and not mean it at all and in fact if you tried to offer would be somewhat irritated. Here, when people casually mention something it's more like a commitment... I don't know where the - you flooded my flat so you can buy me beer - fits in to here. A way of placating the person who obviously feels guilty by holding out this future opportunity for them to make amends which they can latch on to and then mentally reconcile their guilt... or a genuine statement. I think I'm going to offer at some point and then find out which it was. Unless I burn the building down I don't think he could have any more reason to like me less.)
Anyway - I'm completely blown away by how different this whole interaction has been compared to what has been my experience here to date. The people whose lives I've, greatly, negatively affected have not only been graciously forgiving but have offered to help us in unexpected ways. I'm still discouraged at this moment - just home from PT and need x-rays and scans, off work for a while longer and my new found asthma is kicking in... but those are primarily physical obstacles. (physical stuff will piss me off and make me unbelievably cranky but - I can overcome that and move on) The other things that were adding up to the physical have since been taken away - I've been in contact with work and am working from home, the operations manager has called to make sure things are taken care of so my pay isn't affected, my friends have offered to help both with movies and food and company and with cleaning up my mermaid mess, and I found a nice neurologist for Coral... I think that maybe this moment is a good moment - despite my frustrations I've just realized I found a community and this isn't just where I'm living for the moment, but this place is slowly become more like a home, temporary of course, but a home nonetheless.
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